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Lloyd George
Lloyd George Important Figures 1 So you might be asking who David Lloyd George Is. Well, he was a British Liberal politician and statesman. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the head of a wartime coalition government between the years 1916–22 and was the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1926–31. He was mostly known for his role as prime minister, guiding Britain through the Great War and ultimately defeating Germany & her allies. He also played a very large part in the peace negotiations between Germany and the allied forces, which in indirect effect reordered the world & how it is run. He is also highly known as a fine example of British Liberalism & is often seen as an example of Liberalism in the 20th century, and is sometimes even regarded as the man who had the most impact on the average working class citizen of Britain due to his large role spearheading the operation to get new liberalism policies into the British law system. So who was David Lloyd George before he became one of the most important men in 20th century history? Background Well, he was an average boy born into a family in Manchester, England; He was a Welsh speaker and also had a Welsh upbringing (The only Welsh man to hold the position of Prime Minister to date) he grew up with slight experiences of poverty here and there, but was never too far or too long below the poverty line. His father, William George was a teacher, but soon died at the age of 43, from there on David was adamant to make something of himself, his Uncle, alongside a few others was a massive influence of David, and urged him into law and politics, shortly after this, he added his uncles surname to his current name to become ‘Lloyd George’. Political Ascension Lloyd George was returned as Liberal MP for Carnarvon Boroughs — by a margin of 19 votes — on 13 April 1890 and was soon talking about new policies for the Liberal party, he soon started gaining attention and gained promotions until he eventually gained the prime ministerial title in 1916. Prime Minister After David Lloyd George had secured his place as the prime minister, and he had finally got his new liberalism policies in place. He was soon thrown into controlling The Great War (World War 1) his tactics and leadership ultimately gained Britain a safe land, and an overall victory alongside the other remaining allies. Post War David Lloyd George represented Britain in the 1919 treaty of Versailles and clashed against the French Premier Georges Clemenceau, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando. Lloyd George wanted to punish Germany politically and economically for devastating Europe during the war, but did not want to utterly destroy the German economy and political system—as Clemenceau of France wanted—with massive reparations. Later Life After eventually finalising his reign in power, he still remained a dominant figure in British politics, and was always predicted a return to power, but unfortunately for some, never did. However, his new policies which were implemented in his reign, started paving the way for a stronger, more economically stable Britain, and once again, made Britain an economic powerhouse. The Liberal Reforms In relation to the liberal reforms, Lloyd George was a major political driving force behind several reforms, most importantly the 1908 old age pensions Act. During this time, Lloyd George had held two roles in the liberal government – in 1906 when the liberals came to power after the landslide victory, he was the president of the board of trade, but when H.H Asquith came into power during 1908 he assumed the role of chancellor of the exchequer. Remember that he truly did want to “wage war” on poverty! Votes for Women Lloyd George was not so major in this field, but he was on the whole a large supporter of the cause. Despite this suffragettes attacked Lloyd George as actively as they attacked their aggressors, even blowing up his house! The Homefront Lloyd George remained chancellor of the exchequer through the early years of World War One. In 1915 he was appointed minister of munitions in Asquith's wartime coalition government. In July 1916 he became secretary of state for war, but was increasingly critical of Asquith. In December 1916, with the support of the Conservative and Labour leaders, he replaced Asquith as prime minister. Lloyd George's achievements in the last two years of the war included persuading the Royal Navy to introduce the convoy system and the unification of the Allied military command under the French general Ferdinand Foch. Category:British Depth Study Category:Important Figures